Clinical biochemistry is an area that deals with biochemical changes in the body such as imbalances in the composition of blood, stool, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and urine. Determine the contents of the abnormal sample by testing it in laboratories. The result can help doctors and scientists make an indication or diagnosis whether an organ is in normal condition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Discussion: 1) There are few types of specimens that can be collected for diagnostic purposes. The most common specimens that can be collected are blood, urine, stool, and cerebrospinal fluid. First, the blood sample which includes serum and plasma can be obtained from the patient by bloodletting. Bloodletting is a process of drawing blood or introducing a fluid into a body by puncturing the vein and the process of puncturing the vein known as venipuncture. 2) Bloodletting procedures include:I. Position the patient correctly and comfortably. Then, ask the patient to hyperextend the arm.II. Apply the tourniquet three to four inches above the puncture site. However, do not place the tourniquet too tight or for too long (no more than two minutes) to prevent hemoconcentration from occurring.III. Ask the patient to close his fist without moving his hand.IV. Select the appropriate venipuncture site. The puncture site available for venipuncture is the median cubital vein, the cephalic vein and the basilic vein.V. Clean the patient's arm using an alcohol swab and allow it to air dry before puncture.VI.Grasp the patient's arm and palpate or palpate the vein.VII. The needle should be inserted through the skin into the vein at an angle of 15 to 30 degrees.VIII. Fill the blood into the vacuum blood collection tubes and remove the tourniquet when filling the last tube.IX. Carefully remove the needle from the patient's arm and immediately press on the gauze once the needle is removed from the arm. Adequate pressure is required to press down to avoid the formation of a hematoma.X. Dispose of contaminated materials in appropriate containers (shark container).XI.Mix and label all blood filling tubes once tubes are finished filling. 3) Regarding the size of the needles, those suitable for venipuncture are usually needles ranging from 21 gauge to 25 gauge. The smaller the needle gauze, the larger the diameter of the needle pore. Therefore, 21 gauze needles are considered the standard venipuncture needle for patients with normal veins and mainly used for large antecubital veins. 23 gauze needles usually for smaller antecubital, medium sized forearms, hand and foot veins while 25 gauze is commonly used to collect blood from small veins of newborns and premature babies. Gauze needles of 25 are rarely used in adults except for adult hand veins. Sample collected using needles of this size tends to be hemolyzed compared to others. 4) Available syringe sizes are 1,3,5,10, 15 and 20 milliliters (ml). The one and three ml sizes are the most typical type of syringe used for venipuncture. 5) Besides that, when a small amount of blood is needed, capillary puncture, also called finger or heel stick test, can be performed. This can be done by pricking the skin with a lancet (a sharp needle) and collecting the drop of blood on a glass slide, test strip, or capillary tube. Thethe best site for capillary puncture is the center of the fingertip of the third (middle) or fourth (ring finger) of the hand, while for the capillary of the heel the lateral or medial plantar surface of the foot will be suitable. 6) Capillary tube or called hematocrit tube for blood collection is available in blue, red and green colors. The blue colored capillary tube does not contain any anticoagulant, the red colored capillary tube is made of sodium heparin while the green colored capillary tube contains ammonium heparin. After collecting the blood in the capillary tube or hematocrit must be subjected to centrifugation to obtain the hematocrit value 7) When the capillary tube used to collect serum bilirubin which is sensitive to light, must use clay or plasticine to block the opening of the tube and centrifuge place it in a dark room to prevent false results from occurring. 8) Furthermore, urine is also the sample that can be collected for diagnostic purposes. A urine sample can be collected in various ways depending on the type of sample required. The three most common types of urine specimen are 24-hour urine, midstream urine, and fresh urine. 9) The 24-hour urine sample is used to determine the number of solutes in the urine, such as protein-like to prevent diurnal variation in solutes that could influence the result. The patient should note the time of first and last urination of the urine sample. All samples should be collected in a sterile, large, opaque container capable of holding four liters of sample until the 24 hours are complete. 24-hour urine samples are used to measure the amount of creatinine, urobilinogen, protein, and calcium. 10) Next, the midstream urine (MSU), also known as the clean catch sample. This method provides a cleaner or less contaminated sample than the random sample for microscopic analysis. It should only collect the central part of the urine stream but not the first and last part. You must also use a sterile container to collect the sample. This is because MSU is mainly used for microbiological cultures and antibiotic sensitivity testing, so the presence of bacteria or normal flora on the genital part can cause contamination of the sample and lead to a false result. 11) Fresh urine sample also called random sample. This type of sample can be collected at any time and without any precautions in a small bottle (at least 50 ml) with a yellow cap. This type of sample is mainly used for screening tests such as testing for drug abuse. However, this sample type is not considered the best choice due to the potential for sample dilution during sample collection. 12) Furthermore, feces are one of the most important samples for the study of parasites and microbiology. The procedures for collecting the stool sample are to place the potty in the toilet or spread a clean newspaper on the edge of the toilet to collect the stool. When collecting stool, the patient should use the spatula provided with the container and ensure that the sample does not touch the inside of the toilet to avoid contamination. If a spatula was not provided, the patient can use an applicator stick instead. The appropriate amount of stool sample will be approximately one third of the container. The most common container for collecting feces is the glass with a yellow cap. 13) Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Cerebrospinal fluid is a very valuable sample as you can only obtain a very small amount of it at a time and the process of obtaining it is,.